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CEO DATELINE – Business groups urge legal protections for Dreamers

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The leaders of 10 business groups have added their names to a petition urging federal lawmakers to allow “Dreamers” to remain in the U.S.

Dreamers is the term given to people who were raised in the U.S. after being brought here illegally as children. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump removed temporary protections granted to Dreamers by his predecessor, putting roughly 700,000 people at risk of deportation.

The business community has long advocated for permanent protections for Dreamers but stepped up those calls Monday with a petition urging Congress to “pass a bipartisan, permanent legislative solution to enable Dreamers who are currently living, working, and contributing to our communities to continue doing so.” The document was signed by the CEOs of many of the nation’s largest companies, including Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Tim Cook of Apple and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Ten leaders of national business groups also signed the petition. They are:

Matthew Shay, CEO, National Retail Federation

Tom Donohue, CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Jay Timmons, CEO, National Association of Manufacturers

Chip Rogers, CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association

David French, Executive Director, National Council of Chain Restaurants (part of NRF)

Sandy Kennedy, President, Retail Industry Leaders Association

Linda Moore, CEO, TechNet

Stephen Kolb, CEO, Council of Fashion Designers of America

Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities